Guest Lancer Concept #2 — Othin by LPFinale

Hey! This is a great concept by LPFinale (with some collaboration from me, though less than with Aethelinde). Here is a direct link to the concept’s Reddit Thread!

Everything you read after this point is LPFinale’s words, with only a few edits for clarity.

Super Short Summary: Othin can be summed up as a mixture of Grey and Oz. He has a drone (named “Huginn”), like Grey, but it plays a more active role in the fight, like Oz’s afterimage.

Commentary: To prevent abuse of the drone’s attacks and abilities, Othin must be within a certain range of the drone for it to do things other than reposition when using its skills. So that the players don’t have to constantly count tiles, Huginn will have 2 circles as opposed to Rio’s 1. There is no small Vision circle like Rio, as that is mostly to indicate where Rio would fire on someone that turn. The smaller circle is 6 Range from Huginn, only visible if Othin has 6-Range mods equipped. The bigger circle is 8 Range from the drone, indicating that Othin can target his Primary from the drone as well as make use of Leash Snare and Crow’s Nest to do more than reposition. Other solutions are welcome, such as different visual effects on the drone indicating how far Othin is from the drone (perhaps red for Out of Range, yellow for 7-8 Range, and green for 6 or less range, and in different shapes of beacons in case of colorblindness).

Lore: A member of Hawk Aviation’s hunters. Mods his gear, particularly his drone, to further weaponize it. He has dubbed the drone he takes on jobs “Huginn.” Often plays pranks on other members by tampering with their gear or having Huginn mess with them, though he has yet to attempt pranking Grey. (Note from Tiggarius: He’s a wise man.)

Abilities:

Primary — Laser Bolt – Blast Phase

Fires a thin laser bolt that deals 26 direct damage to an enemy. If Huginn is deployed and Othin is within 8 range of him, this attack is targeted from Huginn’s position as well. Hitting with both beams deals 6 additional damage. Gain 6 Energy per laser that hits.

Mods:

Chase Two Rabbits (2 Points, Default): Enemies hit by a single beam take 2 additional damage.

Falconry (1 Point): When Othin is within 6 range of Huginn, he gains 5 Shields next turn per enemy hit.

True to the Original (3 Points): Enemies hit with either beam are Revealed until the end of the next Decision Phase.

Long-Range RC (1 Point): Increases the range Othin can be from Huginn and still target from him by 1.

Flanking Party (3 Points): When Othin is within 6 range of Huginn, Cover damage reduction is reduced by half for both lasers.

2 — Leash Snare – Blast Phase – 4 Cooldown

Deploys or repositions Huginn to a designated position up to 8 spaces away from Othin. If Huginn starts within 8 range of Othin, a laser is created between the two of them during this Blast Phase that becomes active before Huginn begins moving. The laser deals 20 direct damage to enemies it crosses. (With regards to cover, the laser is counted as coming from Huginn’s position.) The laser dissipates at the end of the Blast Phase. Gain 6 Energy per enemy hit.

Backup Battery (1 Point): If Huginn is too far to activate the laser, reduce the Cooldown by 1.

3 — Crow’s Nest – Prep Phase – 4 Cooldown

Deploys or repositions Huginn to a designated position up to 8 range away from Othin. Once there, he watches over the area, firing on any enemies who pass under it for 16 indirect damage. (Imagine if a Nix Overwatch Drone were to watch over a circle shape.) The area it covers is equivalent to the edges of its Vision range (Vision range is equivalent to Rio). More specifically, an enemy who touches the edges of the circle Huginn watches over will be shot at, so if an enemy is under Huginn and doesn’t move, they aren’t fired on. The trap lasts for 1 turn (aka only the turn it’s used on). Gain 8 Energy if an enemy triggers the trap.

Mods:

Sentry (2 Points, Default): Reveals enemies who trigger Crow’s Nest until the end of the next Decision Phase.

Open Season (3 Points): Increase the base Cooldown by 1, but reduce it by 1 for each enemy that triggers Crow’s Nest.

Follow Through (2 Points): For each enemy that triggers Crow’s Nest, increase the damage of the next Laser Bolt by 2, up to a maximum of 6 additional damage. (The bonus resets with each use of Crow’s Nest, like Finn’s Spray and Play mod)

Othin switches positions with Huginn, picking a landing spot anywhere 1 tile from Huginn’s original position. Huginn creates an electric field around Othin’s original position that blocks enemy direct attacks like a wall (aka like a Rampart Bulwark) and counters them for 10 indirect damage. The field dissipates at the end of the Blast Phase. Othin must be within 8 range of Huginn to use this ability, but they can swap positions through walls. Gain 5 Energy on use and 3 Energy per attack countered.

Note: Abilities that pierce walls such as Nix’s Fusion Pulse, Aurora’s Heart of the Storm, and Phaedra’s Seismic Slam will trigger the counterattack, but their attacks will not be stopped.

Mods:

Daring Escape (2 Points, Default): When Othin is within 6 range of Huginn, increase the size of his landing position by 1.

Returning Ambush (2 Points): Grants Haste until the end of the next turn.

Crippling Snare (3 Points): Enemies hit with the counterattack are Slowed for the turn.

Forager (1 Point): Recover 5 HP for each attack countered.

Into the Fray (3 Points): Othin gains 20 Shields until the end of the next turn.

Ult — Rain Down Hell – Prep Phase

Deploys or repositions Huginn to watch over an area up to 8 spaces from Othin, setting a trap similar to Crow’s Nest (the same AoE circle edge). Enemies that trigger this trap aren’t attacked immediately, but are tracked by Huginn until the end of the Movement Phase, at which point their position is locked in. If targets are confirmed, Othin releases the limiters on Huginn’s weapons, enabling him to fire a volley of long-range beams at the targets’ locations during the Blast Phase next turn, dealing 45 direct damage that ignores cover. (Like Mouse Trap and Extinction event, the targets can Dash or Cata out after their positions are locked in.)

Note: This attack being Direct damage is due to similar abilities like Nev:3’s Mousetrap and Magnus’s Extinction Event being considered Direct damage. I don’t understand why they’re Direct damage, but as this follows the same trend, it will be the same type as them. If those abilities are changed to Indirect damage, so will this ability.

Mods:

Love the Chase (2 Points): Deal 1 additional damage per tile away the enemy is when their position is locked in. (Example: An enemy triggers the trap and ends their Movement Phase 5 tiles away from Huginn. Huginn repositions next turn. No matter how far Huginn moves away, the bonus remains 5 additional damage.) (Note from Tiggarius — this is probably the simplest way to do it, but I could see it working either way.)

Northern Lights (3 Points): Reveals enemies hit with the laser until the end of the next Decision Phase.

A build focused around dealing additional damage with strategic positioning close to the drone. Returning Ambush is used to get back to the drone if you were far apart when it was used, and Reserve Power is taken due to having an extra point, and Cooldown reduction if things fail is better than nothing.

A build focused around Reveal, with Stalwart Observer taken to get use out of Sentry more often. There are no mods on the Dash in this build, so care must be taken to survive while tracking your team’s prey.

A build focused on Othin’s survival, allowing him to have his drone use the Primary from farther away and land in farther positions when Dashing while close to his drone. Sidewinder and Open Season are taken for additional damage and more uses of Crow’s Nest since Othin is inherently more passive in this build. Restraint is taken to put the remaining point somewhere.

A build focused on powering up Othin’s Primary with Follow Through and Chase Two Rabbits, with Backup Battery taken in case of a need to get Huginn closer to set up Crow’s Nest to make use of Follow Through. Into the Fray lets Othin stay closer to the fight to keep up the damage output while Love the Chase offers some extra damage against enemies trying to retreat from the fight. Solar Power can be taken instead of Love the Chase if your team has forward members that value their Ults.